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2013-01-28 - It's Not Exactly a Ford Big Block
Kon's got a stranded alien princess, a trashed spaceship, and still has to figure out what to do about either. However, thanks to the Titans, he has a line to a mechanic who travels a lot. The Czarnian is called, and Slobo is given a brief explanation of the situation and asked to come take a look at the ship when he's available. Being a bit closer, or at least a bit more mobile, he and the princess are waiting in the warehouse. The princess is sporting a newly acquired winter wardrobe in the form of an over sized grey sweatshirt sporting the ESU logo, a cheap, equally poorly fitting knit cap matching nicely. The gloves actually do fit reasonably well, the weird rainbow color managing to somehow clash with grey. K'ori wasn't looking overly thrilled with the change of attire, having had to actually remove her mantle to prevent damage to it. The shirt was puffy over her chest, not meant for a woman her size, the hem of the shirt making it to where her hips flared into its more snakely proportions. She also removed her crown and set it inside the cabin of her vessel, protecting it from the elements, rather than setting them along the floor. The woman wasn't shivering at the moment, the warehouse holding enough heat, though she had managed to slither a figure 8 into the dust along the deck. Her hands fidgeted in those gloves, like a cat with tape on its paws. All the way to New York? This calls for something set for cruising and mileage... not that the inventive Czarnian has to really worry about fuel. But maneuverability in New York City? There's a problem! There's a high pitched sound of a engine, something akin to a dirt bike, that could faintly be heard above the usual din of the city. Then it stops. Hey, people gotta park. It didn't take long for the Czarnian to leap over to Kon-El. How'd he know specifically where he was without being told? Slobo's got the Kryptonian's scent. He banged on the door of the warehouse. "It's me! Lemme in!" "Ah, that'd be Slobo," Kon says, rising from where he was sitting to push up the warehouse gate enough for the Czarnian to come inside. "Hey, man. Slobo, Princess K'or'chal, Princess, Slobo," he says, making introductions. K'ori was a predator by nature, and as such the sudden banging had caused her to jump into a defensive posture, a thick blade extending from the head of her staff, a grim looking scythe before she turned her head to eye Superboy's reaction. Seeing the Kryptonian not reacting to the turmoil, the blade retracts, or more like melts into the head of the weapon. "Kree'nah" she muttered to her self looking over as Kon'el opens the gate. The chalk-white little Czarnian's bright yellow eyes widened when he caught the Black as Pitch orbs of the pale-as-parchment princess. Whistling, he ran his fingers through his sepulcher black hair, and grinned. "Wow! A T'ch'aan! Well, I'll be fragged. Princess? Aw, jeez, I forget your lifespans, you could be any member o'royalty. You crashed here? Gizz, I'm sorry. Planet's a little small, y'know?" He elbowed Kon in the gut, playfully. "You know how to pick 'em," he complimented. "Like Captain Kirk, you know that?" Kon just rolls his eyes. "First, I had no idea Star was going to show up like that, second, she crashed, I was nearby, I just did the hero thing. Don't go spreading rumors." He seems amused, though, and pats Slobo on the shoulder. "Don't want Cassie coming after me when I'm actually behaving." K'or'chal blinked at the strange nature of Slobo, tilting her head to the side before slithering close to the pair of males. Circling them closely, K'ori let her sense of smell explore Slobo, leaning in to look him in the face as if studying him. After a moment, she would resume her circling before slithering back towards her vessel. "Why? You're rollin' in princesses," Slobo replied. "Gettin' all redfaced at the Tameranean, in love with a god-daughter, and now you found one o'these! Careful though, no kissy-face. Don't want either of you givin' each other your own native bacteria... plus fangs, not sure you're used to that, Kryptonian!" Slobo grinned wide and proud, displaying his own short, but impressive fangs. Slobo smelled of lots of metal, and various forms of lubricants and perhaps even energy residue. He's a mechanic of all kinds of wacky stuff. He also wears Old Spice, because ladies dig it. When the T'ch'aan circled around the boys, Slobo crossed his arms, getting in her scent as well. Well, less her scent and more an indelible imprint of her aura into his mind, so he could track her if he wanted. "Nice meetin' ya, princess," he said. "Uh, you speak English, right?" "< Because I can speak your language and almost eighteen thousand others, if you need any help. >" What a weird little gentleman. "Czarnian," Kon provides at the strange display. "One of two left." He looks to Slobo at his question. "Sorta? She's mildly telepathic." Then at what sounds an awful lot like what his ears are hearing when she speaks. "Okay, I gotta ask, did you learn every alien language on the off chance you might need to pick up chicks with it?" You say, "English?" K'ori asked before turning to look back to Slobo << You speak T'ch'aani? >>, she projected to Kon-el still knowing he couldnt. << Where did you learn the Serpents Tongue? >>" "It's an inherited trait," Slobo replied to Kon. "And I think he did it so he could pick up bounties more than pick up chicks. I'm no killer, though," unless its a robot or he really really has to. He looked over at the princess, and nodded. "< Yeah. Like I just explained, it's inherited. Talking in my mind, huh? Cool. But I'm not sure my friend here would think it's very nice. What you can say to me you can say to him. >" At least Slobo has a respect for fairness. Kon taps his temple. "She's projecting it for my benefit. She's been picking up a bit of English, though, although just a word here or there. Where'd you park the Czarn Wagon?" he asks Slobo, watching the pair of pale aliens for the moment. K'ori smirked, noting Slobo's forwardness. His boldness to speak to her as he did, << You're a warrior, aren't you? >>, slithering towards him. Was she posturing? Did she really intend to see if he would shy away from her? Rising up slightly on her coils her rattle began to shake slightly, << Confidence, or foolishness. >> she continued, waiting for Slobo to respond. Slobo ohs. "Whoops. There I go again, just thinking about myself before I use it to think about others." He rubs his temple. "Fraggit. Oh, that's still out in Cali. I took a bike to save time and parking. And I-" When the princess decided to slide up and rise up, and give her less-than-subtle warnings, he lifted his hands, put them together and cracked his knuckles. "I don't like bullies," he said. He gave his own subtle body language. He bent his knees just a little, kept his feet apart. "I took Darkseid's Omega Beams to the face, princess. You're not on your throne right now, so bring yourself to our level. You're stuck here, and whether you think you're better than us or not... you need our help." Superboy steps between the two, glaring at both of them. "Princess, you're being a poor guest," he says, and then turns to Slobo. "And you could manage to be a little more polite," he suggests, but it's pretty clear in his tone that he judges 'polite' for the Czarnian by different metrics than he would someone else. He turns to the Princess. "For reference, he's on my tier," he shares. "Should I remind you who got your ship from the crash site to here?" he asks. He has no idea what the princess is capable of, physically, but he's fairly certain the junior versions of two of the universes's toughest brawlers are more than a match. K'or'chal's eyes narroed at Slobo for a moment as he spoke, before she entered a deep rolling laugh. Fangs flashed as she smiled, her laughter echoing slightly in the mostly empty warehouse << I like you! >> she smiled << You remind me of brother. >> she would say warmly, and her telepathic projection to Kon also reflecting her warmth. She couldnt help but reach out and grab Slobo's shoulder, hopefully he wouldnt misunderstand the action. A firm grip she had, smiling "O'ri'ka" There was no mental projection, but Slobo would understand the word to mean Warrior. Slobo hrmph'd, pretending to grump. He was a craftsman, and a fighter. Not a full-bred warrior. But he was PRETENDING to grump, and any idiot could see that he was failing at hiding his smile. "Her race is a predatory one, Kon," Slobo said, "they respect strength. So I had to show my balls for a second... you could learn from me." And now he was SERIOUSLY trying not to laugh... before he went "Pfff-hahahahaha!" and failed miserably at it. Kon looks momentarily confused at the abrupt change of tension, and rolls his eyes. "Pretty certain humans came from prey... though I guess binocular vision is more of a predator thing." He shrugs, and steps back a bit. "And you of all people should know when and where it counts, I'm tough," the teen says, posturing a little himself, shoulders squaring. K'ori laughed along with Slobo before asking << So, you're brave and speak T'ch'aani. What brings you to...here...? >> she wondered looking around the warehouse. "Yeah, I know you're tough." Slobo patted Kon's squared shoulder. "I'm here thanks to him," he said to the princess, nudging Kon again. "I was on Apokolips, and stowed away on their ship. Better than being turned into meat jelly. Why were you in this area of space, anyhow?" "Civil War, she's kinda on the run," Superboy explains, and looks to K'ori. "I figured he might be able to help with your ship problem," he says. "Or if you meant Earth... place seems to just collect aliens, or at least way more than a planet that still celebrates getting to the next planet over should. The T'ch'aani Princess slithered back over to the side of her ship and pressed her hand against a panel on the side where the door had been torn off. The ship shudders and then goes quiet before she slams her fist into the hull. "J'UKAH!" she suddenly spits out, her rattle punctuating her anger before she turns to look to Superboy and Slobo. "You...fix?" she asked curiously, her words seemingly carefully chosen though she looked a little unsure if they were correct. Slobo nodded. "I fix," he replied. "It'll take some time, but gimme two full days and nights just looking at the fraggin' thing and I can figure out what's wrong with it. The next part is... seeing if we have the resources and materials here to fix it." He cursed, and then said the same thing to T'ch'aani, just out of courtesy. "Well, the door was me," Superboy says, the door in question mostly back in place. "And there's a panel in there that's smashed. Tracking signal. Also me." He moves over to the ship, considering it. "What caused you to crash in the first place, Princess?" he asks. "You seemed pretty certain I was attacking you when I first entered your ship. Were you..." he starts flying around the ship, surveying the outside, "attacked or anything?" he asks as he looks for signs that the craft was shot down. Looking over the vessel, K'ori sighed and pointed along the top of the hull, a slight series of dents and a distinctly missing device of some kind. << Guidance. >> she began before slithering towards the rear of the vessel. Pointing at a hole in the hull she sighs << Power. Will need new crystal array. >> Finally she moves to the the engine emplacment and looks at the damage and just lowers her head. << Plasma scoring. Explains why the jump drive didn't kick in right away. >> "And now I understand why all my relatives just fly," Superboy says, nodding to all the damage. "Depending on what's missing... well, with this many aliens on-world, we can probably get it running again. How long it takes... that's a different thing." << Most T'ch'aani fighters carry supplies for emergency repairs. This...may not. >> K'ori looked at the vessel and reached into the hole near the power generators and pulls out a shattered black crystal. << This could be harder to repair. >> it looked like some form of black quartz. "Crystals..." Kon frowns for a moment, and then gives a shout. It's not a particularly loud shout, but still, a young man suddenly screaming, "Kara!" might be somewhat starting, especially for the Princess that has no idea whose name that is. "If she's available, she should be by soon." It takes almost a minute, but then there's a gust of wind and a blur and Kara's there. "What? Sorry .... there was an avalanche in Tibet..." She brushes a lock of hair behind her ear. "What's up, Kon?" She pauses, looking over at Slobo and the snake girl, then pauses some more - not sure if this is going to be something perverted. "Everything okay? Hi Slobo..." She looks at Conner again. "Who's your friend?" Slobo tugs at the hair on his chinny-chin-chin. And then Supergirl booms in. "Hey," he greeted, looking thoughtful, brows furrowed. "I'm not sure about crystal technology, that's more the Kryptonians expertise. Tell you what. You talk to them about crystal stuff, and I'll wander your ship and do a general diagnostic. Sound good, princess?" He sounds oddly focused. Not quite businesslike. But someone needs help, and there's technology to explore! Now why would her cousin call her for anything perverted? "Heya, Kara. This is Princess K'or'chal," he introduces. "She sorta crash landed earlier, and," he points towards the shattered black crystal in her hands. "I'm calling in the gear-heads." K'ori just nodded slightly as Slobo speaks, her black eyes resting on Kara, before holding out the crystal. << This type of crystal focuses the energy before it is channeled to the thrusters. >> she explained in T'ch'aani projecting for those who didn't speak English. Slobo dug around inside the ship. Consider him busy! Both gawking, learning, and studying. Intuitive knowledge of technology requires some hands-on usage, so he may be a while! Kara Zor-El pauses. "Oh, hi Korchal?" She peers at her. "She's a um... Tchaani, right? Oh I'm sorry or are you Valusian? They're the only two races I know that have tails like yours." Another pause. "I haven't actually ever met either, but I read about them in school." Annnd another bout of talking. "I mean on Krypton.... they don't teach about aliens on Earth." She looks at the crystal and scrunches her nose. "That ... might take a while to make a replacement." K'ori suddenly turned her head towards the vessel, and called out something in T'ch'aani. << It needs a bio-signature. >> Her words entering Kara and Kon-el's heads as she spoke. Turning back she looked to Kara and lowered her head respectfully. << Could we not just take crystals from the mines on this world? I am sure I could find a suitable trade for your mine lords. >> The girl suddenly shivered, the humanoid part of her trying to keep warm. "Supergenius daughter of a member of the Science Council of Krypton," Superboy adds, furthering the introduction. "I figure if anyone can get the crystal bits working, it's her." He peeks in after Slobo through the damaged doorway. When K'or starts to shiver, he turns, gently applying heat vision in the same cone of generalized warmth that helped her earlier. "Need any help in there?" he calls to Slobo, this particular application requiring he keep his eyes on K'or, or at least her general area. "Apparently just a bio-signature," Slobo said. "Uh, can I borrow a scale or something for a minute, princess?" Slobo asked. "Or could you input the codes? I need to run a full diagnostic through the working systems and try to deduce what's missing with the list of hardware and other systems. You know, the usual stuff." He's at a terminal, looking at a screen and seeming stumped... silly pass-codes. K'ori paused slightly at the request, looking more than a little put off. After a moment she began to slither her way into the ship, moving to press her palm against a crystal panel. With a hum, the cabins power returned, massive jets of hot, arid air blasting throughout the cabin, resulting in an audible sigh of pleasure from the Princess. << The system can be a little volatile. Its acted up since it took a hit. You may need to hit it a little. >> she explained before smacking the console, a tray of crystals sliding out, most of them intact. << And here is the main banks. >> After a moment, She slithers to the door and motions for Kon-el and Kara to come on board. Slobo furrowed his brow and got to work... looking. Studying. Enhanced senses are useful, even if he may not have x-ray vision. Kara Zor-El scrunches her nose. "It doesn't really work that way on this planet. They don't really have the types of crystals which can house that sort of information. Well except the ones in Kal's ship and my ship and the Fortress. We'd have to grow new ones from the atom up. I mean... it's doable though, it just would take some time." she heads into the ship after Superboy. "How compatible is Kryptonian tech?" Superboy wonders, going into the ship with the others. The inside's not a heck of a lot better than the outside. There's a smashed panel with an ichor-coated beam nearby, one end jagged, the other sliced cleanly by a source of great heat. Some distance away, there's more ichor, and the rest of the beam, where part of the ship appears to have collapsed. "I... well, CADMUS implanted a lot of knowledge, but it was Earth knowledge, and only high school level at that." K'ori sighed, pulling off the sweatshirt before moving under one of the heating vents. Closing her eyes and leaning into the warm air she just rubs her neck. Slobo is, true to his nature, completely distracted when K'ori removed her sweatshirt. The weather inside is nice, the company is nice, and there's tech to mess with. If only they had six pizzas, then things would be perfect. Kara Zor-El looks at the crystals curiously. "Semi compatible. Kryptonian tech is actually a bit more advanced but Kryptonian crystal can still be used to do the same thing. But it would be even harder to grow new Kryptonian crystals from scratch given the scarcity." She takes one of the broken crystals and looks it over. "It's mainly .... you know... an operating system thing. You can run old software on a new computer just fine. You just need to know how to program the old software." Kara Zor-El pauses then adds, "I wasn't saying it's primitive or anything - it's a lot more advanced than most Earth technology. I'm just talking about replacing the parts and how difficult it might be given where you are currently." "Well, the Fortress is made of the stuff, right? And it was kinda 'built,' right?" Superboy wonders, looking over towards Slobo as he works, then looking back to Kara. "Or is it different?" Slobo finally stopped staring at the princess, and got back to touching and looking at the tech. His lips were moving but he wasn't speaking, just reading as he studied. His hands flicked around the screen, and he ended up smacking it twice. "Wow, this thing needs some work," he said at length. "And I'm not sure what these materials translate into earth elements, since they have their own names and I don't have vision strong enough to count atomic weight." K'ori slithered to the aft of the ship, into what seemed a living area. Unless followed, she wouldn't return for several moments. Taking a moment to go through some of the provisions therein. Kara Zor-El pauses and looks at the crystal that Slobo was commenting on. "Atomic Weight of that one is 126." Then looks back at K'or'Chal and Kon. "Either way, you'll probably be stuck on Earth for a little while until new crystals can be grown and programmed." Emerging from the aft of the ship, K'or'chal nods to Kara and just sits back on her coils. <> she asked. "About that... your apartment building, is it still mostly vacant?" Kon asks, smiling a bit, too used to the other members of his family doing utterly ridiculous things to even be surprised by her casually counting subatomic particles. He looks to K'or. "Way I see it, you're stuck with us for a while. Poor seasonal timing, but... well, it'll pass. I think next priority is finding you somewhere to stay and not freeze your tail off while Slobo and Kara get your ship working again." Kara Zor-El nods a bit. "Yeah I mean... I rented out a few apartments but most of it is still empty. I really need to learn the business side of things." She pauses. "Oh. Ohhhh, yeah, if she'd like she can stay there. It's great, it even has access to the tunnels below in case, you know... um... you want to be discreet about entering and exiting?" She pauses then quickly adds, "Not that there's anything wrong - I mean... people might get freaked out because they're not always used to ... tails?" K'ori smiles and lowers her head towards Kara. << The ancestors smile upon your kindness. >> K'ori then looks out the hole in the ship << Anything will be better than this cold and the >> "s..snow.." she finished in English. Clearly having learned a new word. "Well, they're in Metropolis which is a little bit more alien friendly," Kon says, an implied 'but' in his tone. "Maybe we should see if they still sell those shirts modeled after your costume," he suggests to Kara. "Slap an S on her chest, hope she blends in?"